a priest and a boy is a work of fiction reflecting real-world events. in 1956, peter madigan is an eight-year-old altar boy in a sydney parish. bernard cassey is the parish's assistant priest. the story recounts the growing relationship between the two key characters, one that begins with grooming and culminates in sexual abuse. it tells of the confusion and struggles that both characters suffer across the twelve years that the story covers. peter endures a troubled adolescence and a fractured early adulthood, haunted by the abuse. cassey progresses through the church's ranks, protected by the church, while burdened by continuing personal struggles. attempts by peter and his family for justice are met with stonewalled resistance. the setting is the australian catholic church of the 1950s and 1960s. catholicism is an exclusive culture that determines all matters of faith and morals for its members. following the dictates of the church offers eternal salvation. straying from those dictates promises eternal damnation. the pope, together with his bishops and clergy, are the gatekeepers of the path to salvation. their word is law and their personal lives beyond reproach. it is in that setting that the story deals with the impact of institutional sexual abuse on victim, perpetrator, and the standing of the institution itself.